I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5203

To improve small business export assistance.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 6, 1994

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To improve small business export assistance.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Export

5 Enhancement Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) United States exports are concentrated very

9 heavily among a very few large companies. Only 2

10 percent of United States businesses account for 85

11 percent of United States exports.
2

•HR 5203 IH

1 (2) Small businesses remain a large untapped

2 resource of potential export growth for the United

3 States economy. However, small businesses with

4 competitive products frequently face high trans5 actions costs and inadequate information about for6 eign markets which limit their ability to export.

7 (3) There is a significant need for export assist8 ance services targeted to smaller exporters. Over 95

9 percent of United States exporters have annual ex10 port sales of less than $5,000,000, and 72 percent

11 of United States export shipments are worth less

12 than $20,000.

13 (4) There are over 150 Federal export pro14 motion programs fragmented among 19 different

15 Federal agencies. Federal export promotion activities

16 are characterized by duplication of effort, overlap,

17 inefficient dissemination of services and information,

18 turf battles, and confusion among both providers

19 and users of assistance. The Trade Promotion Co20 ordinating Committee concluded that ‘‘for many

21 small and medium-sized firms, getting through the

22 bureaucracy may be as great a hurdle as foreign

23 market barriers’’.

24 (5) The National Performance Review con25 cluded that the Federal Government must reallocate
3

•HR 5203 IH

1 its resources to sectors that have clearly shown

2 growth potential while it works to make its services

3 more accessible to clients.

4 (6) State-based and private sector organizations

5 frequently have better, more timely information

6 about which companies are ready to export, and ex7 actly what type of help they need, than do Federal

8 providers of export assistance.

9 (7) State-based providers of export assistance,

10 including State departments of trade, local industry

11 associations, international freight forwarding compa12 nies, local and regional banks, chambers of com13 merce, and world trade centers, have good local net14 works to deliver services but their resources are lim15 ited in comparison to the Federal Government.

16 (8) Effective outreach by export assistance pro17 viders is key to providing useful service to small

18 businesses.

19 (9) For all companies seeking to export, trade

20 finance is a necessity, and the Federal Government

21 must find ways to help the private sector to deliver

22 trade finance in a useful and profitable way.

23 (10) Partnerships between the Federal Govern24 ment and State-based providers of export assistance

25 can more effectively focus export assistance on small
4

•HR 5203 IH

1 businesses. By combining the funds and inter2 national resources of the Federal Government with

3 the local networks of State-based providers of export

4 assistance, such partnerships can provide a sharper

5 focus on long-term export market development than

6 do traditional trade promotion activities.

7 SEC. 3. EXPANDING FEDERAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR

8 STATE-BASED EXPORT ENHANCEMENT AC9 TIVITIES.

10 (a) THE MARKET DEVELOPMENT COOPERATOR PRO11 GRAM.—There is authorized to be appropriated

12 $40,000,000 to provide grants to qualified entities for ac13 tivities described in section 2303 of the Export Enhance14 ment Act of 1988.

15 (b) THE FOREIGN BUYER PROGRAM.—There is au16 thorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 to provide finan17 cial support, on a shared basis, to small businesses to in18 crease the number of small businesses participating in ac19 tivities described in section 2304 of the Export Enhance20 ment Act of 1988.

21 (c) TRADE MISSIONS.—

22 (1) The International Trade Administration

23 (ITA) shall establish a grant program to provide fi24 nancial support, on a shared basis, for foreign trade

25 missions run by State governments and designed
5

•HR 5203 IH

1 primarily for participation by small and medium2 sized businesses.

3 (2) ITA shall make available for this program

4 no less money than is available for foreign trade

5 missions run by the Federal Government.

6 (3) In the selection of trade missions to which

7 the ITA will provide financial support, ITA shall

8 consider the extent to which a proposed trade mis9 sion will advance the State’s economic development

10 and export promotion strategies.

11 SEC. 4. DISCRETIONARY FUNDS WITHIN THE INTER12 NATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION.

13 In order to better fulfill its mandate to promote ex14 ports of goods and services of the United States, particu15 larly by small- and medium-sized businesses, the Inter16 national Trade Administration shall make it a priority to

17 expand financial support for State-based export enhance18 ment activities, using discretionary funds within its budg19 et. Such financial support may include matching grants

20 for new or experimental State-based export enhancement

21 programs that are not specifically authorized by Congress

22 but that have the potential to facilitate exporting by small

23 businesses.
6

•HR 5203 IH

1 SEC. 5. IMPROVING INFORMATION AND TECHNICAL ASSIST2 ANCE AVAILABLE TO HELP SMALL BUSI3 NESSES COMPLY WITH EXPORT CONTROL RE4 QUIREMENTS.

5 Not later than one year after the date of enactment

6 of this Act, Federal agencies involved in administering

7 controls and regulations concerning the export of goods

8 and services from the United States shall, in consultation

9 with small businesses, State departments of trade, State10 based industry trade associations, international freight

11 forwarding companies, and other State-based providers of

12 export assistance to small businesses, establish and imple13 ment a plan to—

14 (1) consolidate information regarding rules and

15 restrictions on exports and make it available in a

16 format that is easily accessible by small businesses

17 that seek to export; and

18 (2) create an outreach program to inform small

19 businesses seeking to export of relevant rules and re20 strictions on exports and to provide technical assist21 ance for complying with those rules and restrictions.

22 SEC. 6. IMPROVING EFFICIENCY TO REALIZE SAVINGS TO

23 PAY FOR IMPROVED SMALL BUSINESS EX24 PORT ASSISTANCE.

25 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment

26 of this Act, the International Trade Administration, in
7

•HR 5203 IH

1 consultation with other Federal agencies that provide ex2 port assistance services (including trade finance and insur3 ance), shall submit to Congress a plan to consolidate or

4 eliminate programs that provide substantially similar ex5 port assistance services or provide export assistance serv6 ices to substantially similar recipients. The plan shall iden7 tify savings of not less than $100,000,000 per year, to

8 be achieved primarily through improved efficiency, stream9 lining, and targeting of resources to sectors with high ex10 port potential.

Æ